


Scary, Nightmare Hoarder Nest

by IrisPurpurea



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, Leslie's House, One Shot, Pre "Road Trip", Unresolved Romantic Tension, human disasters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25084207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrisPurpurea/pseuds/IrisPurpurea
Summary: Ben visits Leslie's house for the first time. Set between "The Fight" and "Road Trip," around when the sexual tension between them reaches an all-time high.
Relationships: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	Scary, Nightmare Hoarder Nest

"Holy-"

"I know, I know, shut up." Leslie waits a beat before turning her back on her living room to face Ben, who's closing the front door with a quiet, reluctant snap, looking like he's just said goodbye to the outside world forever.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad. I decluttered a while ago." The kitchen is still visible, after all, just through the columns of old newspapers and magazines, the stacks of boxes, the birdhouses.

Ben doesn't move or say anything, just stands frozen in front of her door, fingers still lightly resting on the handle, mouth slightly open. Leslie just crosses her arms and arches an eyebrow at him. He looks at her, then at a pile of papers behind her, then at her again.

"You know, I would not have expected this from you… but actually I'm not surprised, I mean, this is totally how your brain works, isn't it?"

Leslie just shrugs. "I'm… not very good at letting go of things. Things that are important to me, I mean. And you never know, this stuff might be useful someday."

"Even the _fifteen_ birdhouses?"

 _"Especially_ the fifteen birdhouses." Leslie hates how perfect his voice sounds when he's being sarcastic, all deep and a little growly. "Anyway, let's go, we have work to do."

Ben takes a slight step forward, then hesitates. "Am I, like… gonna catch a trip wire if I take another step? Step on a landmine? Fall through a trapdoor?"

Leslie sighs. "Ben-"

"Am I in the Triwizard Tournament? Do I need to worry about Sphinxes? Do you have a ball of magical thread so I won't get lost in the labyrinth and eaten by a Minotaur?"

"Ben!"

"Are we actually in the trash compactor on the Death Star right now?"

"… are you done?"

"No, no I have more… wow, and I thought the corn maze at the Harvest Festival was hard to solve."

"Ha, ha"

"Hang on, let me turn on location tracking on my phone so I can find the best route to your office - ooh, and that way they'll be able to find my body, you know, just in case you murder me and hide my body in a box somewhere-"

"You're hilarious," Leslie deadpans. "Can we get to work now?"

Ben lets out a laugh and the sound of it sends a jolt down Leslie's spine. They're somehow standing a lot closer than they were when this conversation began. She meets Ben's eyes, dark and glimmering. She can see his chest rising and falling, hear how his breathing is slightly heavier.

She could reach out right now and push him up against the door, run her hands across that chest, kiss the annoying smirk right off his face, wrap herself around that tight, compact body and feel his tense muscles relax beneath her -

"Leslie?"

"Huh? Nothing! I mean…" As quickly as they came, visions of taking Ben apart against her front door disappear. Some of the light has faded from Ben's eyes, and he now looks nervous and a little concerned. And it's adorable, damn everything.

"Hey, I was just teasing, I didn't mean -"

"No, no, it's totally fine, I'm totally fine, let's, ahem, go do work now-"

"Yeah, yeah totally, time to go do work, yep." Ben starts forward, then looks at her, hesitating. "Um, you'll have to lead the way."

"Oh, of course, it's this way -" Leslie gestures vaguely in the direction of her kitchen table.

"- you know, 'cause you live in a scary, nightmare hoarder nest and I don't wanna get lost or else -"

"Oh, shut up Ben!" Leslie slaps at his arm and whatever else he was going to say comes out as a startled little gasp when her hand makes contact with his bicep and he jumps back and almost collides with the door.

Aha. Leslie knows how to keep him quiet now.

Before Ben can open his mouth again, Leslie grabs his hand and marches him, speechless, through the labyrinth, ignoring her own hammering heartbeat.


End file.
